TomTom GO 600 - New Interface, Navigation and Verdict

Summary

Our Score:

9

TomTom GO 600: Interface

Like the GO 500 and premium TomTom GO 6000, the GO 600 sports the completely redesigned new TomTom interface. The default screen is a 2D map, showing traffic issues if the data is available. In previous TomToms, touching the map called up the menu, but now you use finger gestures to navigate the map and multi-touch to zoom. So, instead, an inconspicuous circle with three dots in it has become the button to display the menu.

The menu itself is totally different from before, too. Instead of the previous grid of icons, now there is a simple row, and there are far fewer icons as well. Some of this is because functions have been combined, with the Search button bringing together address and points of interest databases into one place. The keyword search operates across both, with a results screen that shows addresses on the left and points of interest on the right.

The points of interest listing includes places that match the keyword spelling, but also categories and subcategories that do too. This is in fact the only way to get to most of the POI categories, as there are only icons for Parking and Petrol Stations in the main menu. At first this feels like a limitation, but typing in the appropriate category is pretty rapid, although you do need to know the right word - "food", for example, doesn't bring up restaurants or supermarkets, instead providing a list of nearby shops with "food" in the title.

The sat-nav has lost some useful features in this radical change. There is no online weather forecast available, and no online local search either. The latter is a bit of a shame, as the previously included Google Local Search could be pretty effective at finding destinations that weren't in the POI database, although the TomTom Places that replaced it last year hasn't proven quite so capable.

The navigational experience is slightly different, too. Gone is the information bar that was traditionally at the bottom of the screen. You do still get a reading of your current speed at the bottom, with the next turn you have to make at the top. But the rest of the important information has been moved to the right-hand-side into a feature TomTom calls the Route Bar.

The Route Bar now incorporates the estimated time of arrival and distance to destination at the top, and then a vertical strip beneath that shows either your distance to forthcoming traffic issues and how much delay they will cause, or details of a speed camera that you are currently approaching. The latter counts down and illustrates graphically as you get closer, as well as illustrating the limit, with colours representing whether you are above it.

The navigational map itself is rather minimal in its use of colour, but still extremely clear. The maps also include 3D models of important landmarks to aid orientation, so in theory you will see a model of Wembley Stadium on the sat-nav as its arch appears in the actual view through your windscreen. But we have never been convinced that this feature is essential to successful navigation.

Should I buy the TomTom GO 600?

If you want a huge 6-inch sat-nav with TomTom's excellent Traffic service, but don't fancy the £70 or so premium for the TomTom GO 6000 with its integrated mobile data connection, the GO 600 gives you most of the same features for considerably less. However, the TomTom GO 500 and 400 reduce the price still further, with the only downside being smaller screens, so they are more economical if you don't need a massive screen.

Verdict

The TomTom GO 600 gives you lifetime access to TomTom's Traffic, which remains the benchmark in jam detection and avoidance, but you may want to eschew the 6-inch version in favour of the smaller GO 500 or 400, and save your pennies.

MattMe

September 24, 2013, 11:57 am

I hope they're going to release a new device with US maps as well as Europe. Mine's been invaluable over the last few years, and I'm about ready to upgrade.

toboev

September 25, 2013, 7:54 am

Widescreen was spawned as a cinema format, which it suits well. By what leap of logic is something tailored to the immersive big-screen movie theatre experience ideal for a small sat nav device? I ask because "wide screen" seems to have taken on a life of its own, unhinged from its original purpose, and now it infects anything with a screen, willy nilly.

With sat nav I like to know the way ahead, not the way to either side, so I'd have thought "tall screen" format would be better than "wide screen". But do they even ask the question, or is "wide screen" just the only name that sells?

racey1979

September 30, 2013, 12:00 pm

Does this one keep telling you to "Keep to the right" every time you drive past a layby on an A road? My Go 950 does this and it drives me up the wall. Also, does it know the difference between a sharp bend and a junction?

Bernard

November 4, 2013, 5:57 pm

Tom Tom completely screwed me last summer. I have one of their nav. devices that had the data for North America (NA) loaded on it at purchase. I traveled to France last summer and so, prior to my trip, I bought and attempted to load the Euro data onto it via the Tom Tom web site. To make this work I had to delete the NA data first. I did this and then attempted to load the Euro data. The loading process did not appear to work and when I tried to run the software it gave me a “no data” message. So I called the customer care and technical services and some numskull assured me that the error message was purely the result of me trying to run the unit in NA when the data was all European. I explained that I did not think it was actually loaded and I was assured several times that I was simply confused and that the data was on the device etc. etc. Of course when I got to France the device gave me the same bloody message. What a surprise!! So I ended up using my phone for all of my navigation and had to pay a few hundred dollars to cover the related roaming charges. To cap all of this, when finally got home the stupid device would not load the NA data either. So I now have a useless Tom Tom, and their stupid, inept, technomoron department are unable/unwilling to help.

Andrew

January 1, 2014, 12:53 am

sorry to say good features but rubbish maps in Australia last week travelled to Great ocean rd and it kept taking to long and incorrect routes finally the Information officer said to stop using Tomtom as it was the worst in that area really depressed and had to follow the maps

Guest

July 19, 2014, 7:36 pm

They say lifetime updates, but if you read on the TomTom page it says something else. Free updates as long as the device is supported. I just ordered this one and didn't read the fine print until after I ordered.

Ron Rice

July 26, 2014, 3:58 am

Tomtom 600: pretty, but not too useful. When my tomtom 570xl died i tried the other brand. I was tempted to toss the thing out the window on several occasions. I do a lot of driving for work so when i got fed up with it, i wanted to buy the best navigator I could find. The tomtom 600 was the latest product they produced so I bought one. I was excited to use it but have been very disappointed. When i called tomtom to see if i could get the time of day to display on the screen they hung up on me. I have to find 8 addresses a day around town. 1st. I have to tap the screen a lot more to find an address. Ex: Tap search>alpha keyboard showes up. then you got to switch to numerals to start the address. then switch to alpha for street names/>adress shows you tap it>location of address shows on map>you tap again>route shoes on map>you tap again to navigate. NUMBERS AND LETTERS SHOULD BE ON ONE SCREEN. ONCE ADDRESS IS FOUND YOU SHOULD ONLY TAP ONE TIME TO START NAVIGATION. Its a huge screen! Plenty of room for numbers and letters and symbols and stuff like : ave, st, pl, ln, and other thoughtful shortcuts. 2nd. No clock. no option for a clock, date or time left on travel. 3rd. No road blockage detour function. If you come up on an accident and the road is blocked, this unit will not help you find an alternative route. 4th. address of destination does not show or is audible as you arrive. "destination on the right" is not helpful when there are 6 houses there. I always have to go back to my work order to find the right house. 5th. Traffic data. Once its set up, it works pretty good. Maybe "once" is misleading here. You have to "pair" the unit every time you power it up. Unlike an ear piece that once you search, and approve and pair, it automatically connects and works when powered up. Not this tomtom. Its only after you find yourself in bumper to bumper that you realize the traffic data is not working. 6. Stock voice. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Its like its the female version of Hawkings in there. Hello atari 64. the alternate voices are better but you have to change the distances from feet to yards. 7. No real option settings. Regrettably , I give this one a "3" on a 1 to 10 scale. I gave it that only because the large screen and decent mounting. Defiantly not a professional device.

MasterElwood

August 27, 2014, 4:07 pm

"However, the TomTom GO 500 and 400 reduce the price still further, with the only downside being smaller screens, so they are more economical if you don't need a massive screen."

Not true. The 600 has a MUCH higher screen resolution. That makes a BIG difference...

Darren Pardoe

September 28, 2014, 3:55 pm

Hold down the top row of letters, they turn into numbers within a second ;)

Darren Pardoe

September 28, 2014, 4:00 pm

I just purchaded this from Halfords for £149 & im getting a rebate of £30. Awesome bargain. This tomtom is 100x better than previous tomtom devices I have owned. Cant rate it enough. If your having problems, then your doing it wrong or the device is faulty.

Andrew Bandit1200cc

July 26, 2016, 11:31 pm

Most of the changes are for the better - the ease with which you can alter your route, the pinch and zoom feature, etc. HOWEVER, quite astonishingly someone decided that cluttering up the map with extra information should take precedence over providing us with the vital, primary source of information that the map should provide. A picture speaks a thousands words, but, in TomTom's case, a thousand words paints a picture. Yes, the 'Next Event' window is located at the top middle of the screen on a dark background completely obscuring the road ahead and your view of the upcoming roundabout, junction, or exit. It's mind-bogglingly stupid and will make you miss exits on motorways etc because the plethora of little symbols they've substituted are sometimes confusing and often not displayed in time. On the older GO 530 I own you can move the information to the side and out of the way so you had a clear picture to follow. But not any more because the nearly useless Route Bar is in the way. It's a great sat nav in some ways but because of this alone I'd recommend looking elsewhere. And that's coming from a TomTom fanboy.

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